21st Dec 2017 – Press Information Bureau (Daily PIB PDF-UPSC)

VP interacted with a delegation lead by Mr. Abdrahamane Niang, the President of the High Court of Justice along with two other Members of Parliament of Mali, here today.

Vice President’s Secretariat

• Terrorism and radicalization remain common challenges for India and
  Mali, and the whole world.
• The Vice President said that India stands ready to extend Lines of Credit
  in projects of renewable energy sector in Mali adding that India has
  already extended Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme to Mali and Indian
  importers are availing the benefits.
• India is committed to further strengthen its developmental cooperation
  partnership with Mali, he added.
• The Vice President said that the World Heritage Site of Timbuktu with its
  repository of invaluable Islamic scriptures and manuscripts is a unique
  cultural asset for the entire world.
• The Vice President congratulated the Government of Mali on the
  establishment of G-5 Sahel Joint Force which will contribute to unity,
  peace, development and prosperity of Mali and the region.

Ministry of Communications

• DARPAN – “Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India”
• Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and
  achieve “financial inclusion” of un-banked rural population.
• Goal of the IT modernization project with an outlay of Rs. 1400 Crore is
  to provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster
  (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post
  Offices (BOs) to improve the level of services being offered to rural
  customers across all the states.
• 43,171 Branch Post Offices have migrated under the
  “DARPAN”projectwith the aim of financial inclusion to rural population
  and it is targeted to complete the project by March, 2018.
• The Project shall increase the rural reach of the Department of Posts and
  enable BOs to increase traffic of all financial remittances, savings
  accounts, Rural Postal Life Insurance, and Cash Certificates; improve
  mail operations processes by allowing for automated booking and
  delivery of accountable article; increase revenue using retail post
  business; provide third party applications; and make disbursements for
  social security schemes such as MGNREGS.
• With 1.5 lakh Post Offices (approximately), the Department of Posts has
  the most widely distributed postal network in the world.

Ministry of Defence

• Indian Coast Guard Ship “Sujay”, the sixth in the series of six 105m
  Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) was commissioned by Director General
  Indian Coast Guard Shri Rajendra Singh at Goa.
• This 105 meter OPV has been designed and built indigenously by Goa
  Shipyard Ltd and is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and
  communication equipment, sensors and machineries.

Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises

• Government has formulated a Mission Plan for electric vehicles
  (including hybrid vehicles) viz. National Electric Mobility Mission Plan
  2020 (NEMMP 2020).
• NEMMP 2020 provides a road map for facilitating the manufacture and
  use of electric and hybrid vehicles through a series of interventions in
  order to support R&D in technology including battery technology, create
  demand for such vehicles, and to enhance manufacturing of such vehicles
  significantly by the year 2020.
• Under NEMMP, the Government has an ambitious target to achieve 6-7
  million sales of hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020.
• Department of Heavy Industry has notified a FAME India Scheme [Faster
  Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India] for
  implementation with effect from 1st April 2015.
• At present, the Phase-I of the scheme is under implementation, which
  was originally for a period of 2 years till 31st March 2017 but has been
  extended further till 31st March 2018.
• The list of projects approved for funding to help in development of
  battery technologies is given in the next page.
• At least 60 former Supreme Court judges have expressed concern over
  India’s criminal justice system in remarkably candid interviews
  conducted by the National Law University in association with The Death
  Penalty Project.
  • Issues:
    1. Frequent use of torture
    2. Fabrication of evidence in criminal cases
    3. A flawed legal aid system
    4. Delays in judicial proceedings
  • Undertrials often spend longer in custody than the maximum time for
    which they can be sentenced for the crime in question.
• Death penalty: “RAREST OF RARE” doctrine has been interpreted
  differently in different courts and by different judges.
  It raises questions about the very legitimacy of the death penalty, which
  seems to often be influenced by personal prejudices and inconsistent
  legal procedures.
• In retaining the use of the death penalty, India is in the company of Iran, China,
  Saudi Arabia and the US.
• Finally, capital punishment has not proved a deterrent to violent crime in India.
• The police forces in different states are stretched to breaking point, and
  they are not trained in new policing methods relying instead on old forms
  of interrogation which are often inhuman and violative of fundamental
  rights.
• Poor evidence collection has meant that cases either drag on for ever or
  fall through the cracks.
• As the law commission put it, “During this time, the prisoner on death
  row suffers from extreme agony, anxiety and debilitating fear arising out
  of an imminent yet uncertain execution.” It also weighed in against
  solitary confinement and the degrading conditions that prisoners on
  death row live in.
• This in itself constitutes a form of torture.
• This form of punishment goes against the grain of democratic traditions
  which uphold the dignity and human rights of all individuals, even those
  thought to have committed heinous crimes

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